The state Senate today passed legislation that would require out-of-state law enforcement agencies to notify New Jersey authorities before conducting counter-terrorism operations within its borders. The bill was proposed in response to the New York Police Departmentâs surveillance of Muslims in the Garden State.File photo

TRENTON — The state Senate today gave final passage to legislation that would require out-of-state law enforcement agencies to notify New Jersey authorities before conducting counter-terrorism operations within its borders.

The bill (A2948), which passed 39-0, was proposed in response to the New York Police Department’s surveillance of Muslims in the Garden State. The state Assembly passed the measure last October, and the bill now goes to Gov. Chris Christie for consideration.

"The attorney general’s review into the NYPD surveillance operation found no laws were broken, but a line was definitely crossed," Assemblyman Charles Mainor (D-Hudson), a sponsor, said in a statement. "This bill helps dictate that surveillance in our backyard by other states, without our knowledge and adequate justification, cannot happen again."

The Associated Press in 2011 disclosed that the NYPD had been running an aggressive domestic intelligence operation that extended into New Jersey, targeting ethnic communities in Newark, the campus of Rutgers University and elsewhere. The operations outrages some in the Muslim community.

The legislation passed today would require the NYPD and other out-of-state agencies to notify county prosecutors at least two days before beginning surveillance within their jurisdictions. Prosecutors would then be required to report the activity to the New Jersey State Police, which would then notify high-ranking state officials.

Any law enforcement officer in New Jersey who learns of operations by an out-of-state agency, regardless of whether it gave notice, must tell the county prosecutor. The bill permits the state attorney general or a county prosecutor to seek a court injunction barring counter-terrorism activity if an out-of-state agency fails to notify state officials.